The Seas of Time
by Little Tsu
Summary: 'Looking back on things, I don't regret any of it. Well,...that's a lie...I regret how I ended up where I currently am. But you know,...despite it all, I can't help but laugh at how my life turned out through everything I've done.' The memories & thoughts on a certain Shichibukai's brother's life. (#4 of the one/two-shot series)


_Little Tsu: Ok so...I have net back again...Sorta...On satelite now. Ick. Reason bein' cause dad &amp; me have officially moved inta our new house after nearly a year...Sorta...Still technically movin', but we're livin' in it at least.x.x"_

_Anywho, I'll be workin' on updatin' some of my other stories too in the process of it all, but...well...yeah...I ended up comin' up with ideas for new stories again, but luckily this is another one-shot. I like one-shots. Ya don' gotta update like in multi-chaps; jus' put it up &amp; you're done!/o/_

_Well, anywho again,...here's another one-shot of one of my all time fave animes; One Piece! This time, even though it's got Pheonix in it as usual, she's not the biggest focus like she had been in most of the others._

**The Seas of Time**

_**{? POV}**_

Looking back on things, I don't regret any of it.

Well,...that's a lie...I regret how I ended up where I currently am.

But you know,...despite it all, I can't help but laugh at how my life turned out through everything I've done.

_Sitting upon a chair in the kitchen of his home, a young man with bi-colored eyes, the left gold while the right was crimson, and pitch black short, messy hair was seen hunched over with his elbows resting on his knees. The beginnings of bags were seen under his eyes against his tanned skin that possessed a scar upon his left cheek from the outside corner of his left eye and going down his cheek in a curve to halt at his jaw; a second, smaller scar seen going across his nose, only to halt halfway under his left eye just barely away from the longer scar. Despite theses two scars, he was considered a rather handsome young man of only nineteen years with a nicely defined, lean build to himself. However, right now, instead of being out at sea like he usually was, this pirate was stressed and awaiting for a certain piece of news that had been the whole reason for him being currently docked in a village._

_The sound of a door opening caught his attention and he quickly rose up onto his feet as he brought his bi-colored gaze towards the middle aged man in the white coat walking towards him slowly while carrying a bundled up pale blue blanket. "Well? What is it? Is everything ok?"_

_The doctor drifted his gaze onto the young man before him with a slightly exhausted look, but that expression soon changed to one of sympathy. "You are now the father of a beautiful baby girl...Congradulations. However,...it is with a heavy heart that your wife, Mirra had faced with complications during child birth...I'm sorry young man, but...she didn't make it." He then carefully held out the bundle to the man before him, who shakily reached out and took it from him despite the shock and horror that flashed within his eyes. "We will prepare a proper funeral for her when you are ready. Again, my deepest apologies." With that, the doctor left the house with his head still bowed slightly._

_Standing there in shock and dread still, he finally snapped out of it after another moment when the bundle in his arms stirred and began to whine a bit. Blinking slightly, he tilted his head down and brought his gaze onto the blanket before bringing his fingers to brush aside part of the fold. What greeted him, caused tears to begin filling the corners of his eyes. Tiny hands were fisted tightly near their slightly pudgy face, which was scrunched up in an effort to try and stay resting; little whisps of blue grey hair upon their head. However, they seemed to finally give up as their face relaxed and their eyes slowly peeked open. The sight of those eyes is what finally made said tears fall. Bi-colored like his own, but their right was blazing red like one of his own eyes while the left was a deep sapphire just like his wife's eyes had been; their hair color also came from his wife._

_"You...look so much like your mother...You'll grow up into a beautiful girl." The young man finally smiled, albeit sadly, and lifted the baby up towards his face as he nuzzled her affectionately in the most gentle of manners. "My baby girl...My beautiful little Pheonix..."_

Slowly opening my eyes halfway, I gazed down at the cold stone ground that I sat on with my arms resting between my bent up legs. I had been resting a lot lately, or at least trying to, but the voices around me keep me up more often than not. Don't those morons know what the meaning of 'sleep' is?

Stupid...

So...stupid...

As I thought about this though, I allowed my previous thoughts to engulf me once again. They always did keep me nice and calm...Kept me from wanting to slaughter the cause of the irritating racket...

_A loud, pained cry was heard just outside of a shop, causing the now twenty-two year old pirate to come hurrying out the door of said shop to see what had happened. What was witnessed caused his eyes to widen before a shocked, yet demanding tone escaped his lips. "Pheonix!"_

_Standing there, hovering over the fallen figure of a young boy was three-year old little Pheonix with their tiny fist clenched tightly shut. The boy, who was only a few years older than her, was crying while covering his bloody nose. People that lived within the village had stopped what they were doing and were watching with shock on their features, though a few had whispered about the girl being 'untamed' and 'wild'. Clenching her teeth tightly at hearing the whispers, Pheonix shot an angry little glare towards them; the best one she could muster considering her age. "Sh-Shut up! Ya don' know nothin'!" Before she could try to attack anyone else, she was suddenly picked up off the ground and carried off, causing her to blink slightly in surprise with now wide bi-colored eyes. "Huh?"_

_"Sorry about what my daughter did. I'll pay for any damages done to the boy." With that, he turned around and walked off, leaving the crowd of whispering and muttering villagers, though he had caught 'daughter of a pirate' within the murmerings before they got out of earshot. Once they were, he glanced to his slightly squirming daughter with a stern, yet exasperated look, causing her to stop her struggling. "Now...What was that all about back there Pheonix? You know not to pick fights. That was very bad."_

_"But that jerk deserved it! He said I'm dirty cause I have no mommy and I'm the daughter of a pirate!" Obviously, she got her language from her father since she never got to know her mother. Giving him a stubborn look, she finally pouted as her eyes softened a bit depressingly. "I can't help that I don' gots a mommy and who cares if I'm the daughter of a pirate? I gots the coolest papa in the whole wide world. That stupid boy didn' know nothin' on what he was talkin' 'bout..."_

_Eyes softening sympathetically as he listened to Pheonix speak, he finally closed his eyes gently as a faint chuckle managed to slip out despite the pang of hurt that shot through his heart at the mention of his late wife, Mirra. Drifting his eyes back open, he casted her a gentle smile. "Well, this pirate doesn't let things like that bother him any and as my daughter, you shouldn't either. After all, that would show your pride most in your lienage. Your father's family history has a number of pirates within it so you'd do them proud if you didn't let such silly insults get to you."_

_Staring up at her father at his words, she seemed to take it all in with wide eyed innocence. When he had finished, she tilted her head down as she thought for a moment. "...Hey papa?...D'ya think I could do it too?" Right when she said this, Pheonix closed her eyes and shook her head before opening them up in a narrowed fashion. "No...I **am** gonna do it."_

_"Hm? Do what?"_

_Lifting her head back up, bi-colored sapphire/ruby locked with bi-colored gold/ruby; a determined look in her very young gaze. "I'm gonna become a pirate. The best one in the whole wide world! Then I can make ya proud and show everyone how great my family really is! I'll become so great that my name will even reach all the way up ta mommy!"_

_Staring in slightly shock and awe at his daughter's words and the seriousness within her gaze towards just how much she meant said words, he almost still couldn't believe it. Finally, his eyes closed and a bright laugh erupted from his throat as his head tilted back. "Hahahaha! That's some dream Pheonix." Calming back down, he brought his gaze back onto the little toddler in his arms and smiled gently as his eyes softened lovingly. "...I'm sure it will reach your mother someday..."_

The sounds of clanking was heard in front of me, causing me to raise my head slowly to look ahead of myself. Standing there before me were two men in white uniforms before they walked up to me and pulled me up to my feet. Leading me out of the room, I walked slowly down the halls; the voices yelling out at me as I passed by them all. I didn't care about any of them though. I knew of some of them, hell I **fought** and defeated a number of them, but none of those people mattered any to me at all. They were all 'faceless nobodies' to me.

Tilting my head up tiredly as my feet almost seemed to drag in my walk, my heavy lidded gaze stared up blankly at the dim lights above me.

_"Can you believe it? She's already five now. Pheonix is getting so big. Before I know it, she'll be all grown and leaving out on her own, haha."_

_An older man in his very early thirties drifted his piercing gold gaze towards the younger man sitting next to him at the counter of a bar they had met up in. His hand was casually curled around a glass of wine; a drink that he far prefered over rum. Closing his eyes calmly as he tilted his head down faintly, he lifted his glass and took a sip of his wine before speaking. "It is hardly surprising. She **is** your daughter after all, thus making her my niece." Bringing his glass back down to rest on the counter, he brought his gaze to lock onto his little brother once more. "In any case, she still has a long way to go before she is fully grown. The best thing to do is enjoy it while it lasts...Though don't you think it would be wise to become a Shichibukai? That way, the bounty on your head will be null and void. Simply retiring on your pirating will not make that bounty go away nor will it make the navy leave you alone...Not with all that you have done thus far in those mere few years of pirating and the bounty you aquired upon your head..."_

_The younger man tilted his head down as he let a snicker tremble his slightly broad shoulders a bit in amusement. "Yeah, I guess four hundred million berries is pretty hard to ignore, huh?" He then scoffed playfully as he waved a fingerless gloved hand nonchalantly at his older brother. "Ah, you worry too much. I mean, come on. I'm still around, aren't I? No way I'll ever get caught or killed. I'm too tough for them. I'm practically on par with you brother."_

_Narrowing his eyes slightly at this, he almost felt like hitting the foolish young man before him. It was that kind of carelessness that could quite possibly become his very downfall someday in the future. However, before he could say as much to him, he paused as he spied a sudden change in his demeanor. His expression had softened and seemed to have a distant look in his bi-colored gaze._

_"Hey...If...something **does** happen to me though,...will you look out for my daughter?" Bringing his gaze up, he held an almost forelorn look in them. "Pheonix'll need someone to guide her. After all,...she's dead set on becoming a great pirate; imfamous pirates like you and me."_

_"You know I will...But nothing will happen to you for a while yet at least. Do not be so foolhardy as to think otherwise..."_

Squinting my eyes slightly as the large double doors creaked open, bringing in the bright light of the sun, I was lead outside and up onto the wide platform. The two men that brought me out here pushed me down onto my knees by my shoulders and as I did so, my bi-colored eyes adjusted quickly to the brightness and scanned my surroundings carefully. It was then that my gaze halted as it landed upon one man standing off to the side on the platform with others; his long, open black coat with the red flower print sleeves and the big black hat atop his head making him stand out the most to me. When his piercing gold eyes locked with mine, I felt nothing but resignation in what was to come at the very faint trace of sadness that had flashed within his gaze for only an instant before returning to their usually stern look.

My brother had been right in what he warned me on only months ago after all...

"Retired captain of the Hawk Pirates, Lucian Mihawk! For all the crimes you had commited, you are sentenced to death by beheading. Do you have any last words to speak before your end?"

_~I'm gonna become a pirate. The best one in the whole wide world! I'll become so great that my name will even reach all the way up ta mommy!"_

_"...I'm sure it will reach your mother someday..."~_

_~"...Will you look out for my daughter?"_

_"You know I will..."~_

"Just one thing. Wherever she is right now, I want my daughter to know I love her very much and that I'll be watching over her with her mother." I then tilted my head up as I yelled out to the heavens with all my heart. "Never give up on your dreams! Become the best pirate the world will ever know!" Grunting at the blow I was given to the back of my head, I jolted forward slightly so that I was hunched over some now while still on my knees.

Tilting my head down as my eyes gently close, a satisfied smile fell onto my features for what I said despite the defeat that another part of myself felt inside of my heart. Knowing the axes were now raised above me, I didn't budge and kept my eyes closed and my smile on my features; the image of my wife's bright smiling face appearing in my mind.

_'I'm coming home...Mirra...'_

And the axes fell upon me...

_**{12yrs later; 3rd person view}**_

Dracule stood there within the shadows as he remained hidden around the corner of a building as he watched the Straw Hat Pirates smiling as they went about deciding on what supplies they needed, though the captain seemed more interested in where there was good food in the town they were currently docked at. However, the older man had no intention on capturing any of them as would be the requirements as a Shichibukai when crossing paths with any pirates unless you just did them away yourself. Instead, his piercing gaze was focused solely upon the young woman with blue grey hair and wearing a black hat down against her back, which had the legendary sword, Kuro Youkai strapped to her back; her bi-colored eyes seeming to be glaring up at the swordsman next to her that he, himself, had trained during those two years.

He didn't hear any of their conversation personally, but he could still pretty much read their expressions as the moss haired swordsman seemed to remark back at her, causing the smaller swordswoman to suddenly blush and quickly glance away, most likely out of stubborness, though that only seemed to cause a satisfied, yet amused expression to appear onto Roronoa's own features. Watching as the group finally split up to accomplish the tasks they'd given themselves, the bluenette seemed to remain put for a moment as she watched them leave, but another remark from the ex-pirate hunter seemed to get her attention as she suddenly punched him in the arm with a blush still on her features before stalking off in a flustered huff.

However, as she did, neither he nor apparently Roronoa Zolo had missed the faint smile that she had tried to hide as the older swordsman jogged after her before slowing to walk along side of the shorter girl; the two becoming lost in their random teasings towards each other. Seemed like that despite the hardships she had gone through in her life, the young woman was finally letting herself begin to heal...

Closing his eyes gently as he tilted his head down and his arms came up to cross themselves over his bare chest, Dracule allowed a very faint trace of a smile to appear onto his features in satisfaction before opening his eyes slowly once more. Gazing ahead of himself, gold became locked with transparent bi-colored gold/ruby eyes. "Her name will reach the heavens soon enough...You should be proud...Lucian..."

A gentle smile fell onto the transparent form of the twenty-four year old man before him as their gaze softened with pride. "I already was...Thank you Dracule...For everything..."

Watching as Lucian faded away, Dracule closed his eyes once more and shook his head as he pushed himself lightly off the wall as he began to walk off down the street in the opposite direction that Pheonix Mihawk and Roronoa Zolo had gone in. "Foolish little brother..."

_~"...Thank you Dracule...For everything..."~_

_'...It had been my pleasure...'_

The seas of time...are ever changing in the age of pirates...

**End.**

_Little Tsu: Not so much focused on Pheonix mainly, but rather on her father and what had happened ta him since I had mentioned him dieing when he was still young in 'My Day Will Come'. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this._


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